THE CINEMA OF WERNER HERZOG

The Cinema of Werner Herzog is the first study in over twenty years devoted entirely to the analysis of the work of the enfant terrible of New German Cinema. Werner Herzog is renowned for pushing the boundaries of conventional cinema – the lines between the fictional and the factual, the fantastic and the real – and this volume explores the director’s continuing search for what he has described as ‘ecstatic truth’. The study includes analysis of over 35 films from this prolific director, from epic works with Klaus Kinski such as Aguirre: Wrath of God (1975) and Fitzcarraldo (1982) to groundbreaking documentaries such as Fata Morgana (1972), Lessons of Darkness (1992) and Grizzly Man (2006), as well as many films such as Bells from the Deep (1993) and Wings of Hope (2000) which receive serious critical attention for the very first time. Special attention is paid to Herzog’s signature style of cinematic composition, his ‘romantic’ influences, and his fascination with colonialism and war.

January 2007
224 pages

978-1-905674-17-6 (pbk)	£16.99	£11.89 with 30% Off - Spring Sale discount add to basket
978-1-905674-18-3 (hbk)	£45.00	£31.50 with 30% Off - Spring Sale discount add to basket

Brad Prager is Associate Professor of Film Studies and German Studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is the author of Aesthetic Vision and German Romanticism: Writing Images (2007).

'Writing a book capable of encapsulating this prolific filmmaker, writer, opera director and all-round athletic intellectual before he does something new and different seems downright impossible. But Brad Prager has made a valiant effort in this new volume for Wallflower Press’ Directors' Cuts series … Prager is consistently informative ... The sections on God’s Angry Man (1980), and Grizzly Man (2005), are welcome reminders that few artists have eavesdropped more creatively on the weird messages conveyed by televangelists, nature cultists and other originals to what Thoreau called the "broad, flapping American ear".’
– Leo A. Lensing, Times Literary Supplement

'Tight and delightfully well researched ... Easy and compelling to read without ever feeling as if the reader is being denied salient but ‘difficult’ information ... Prager’s clear and concise book is not only a great introduction to Herzog but a great introduction to many areas of philosophy, art, religion and ultimately the unanswerable mysteries of life.'
– John Bradburn, Vertigo 

‘The book manages to skilfully illuminate all of Herzog’s films, from his early masterpieces such as Aguirre: Wrath of God through to the recent Grizzly Man. Special attention is paid to Herzog’s quest for what he describes as ‘ecstatic truth’, and Prager’s exploration of the moments in the films when such ecstatic truth is revealed, when Herzog transfigures reality with his mysterious ‘stylisation’, is truly fascinating. This book is an essential introduction to one of the world’s greatest and most idiosyncratic filmmakers.’
– Mark Venner, Film Ireland

'It is a welcome sight to find Werner Herzog, one of the most intriguing figures of international cinema over the last forty years, featured within Wallflower Press's "Director's Cuts" series. More welcome still are the finesse and care that Brad Prager brings to the project. Given the director's prodigious output (some fifty films and counting), the author is to be praised for a meticulously researched and clearly written account of that entire body of work, much of which challenges standard conceptions of film genre and all of which challenges the viewer's conceptions of cinematic form... The merits of this book go far beyond its usefulness as an introduction to this enigmatic oeuvre, for Herzog scholars will encounter much here that is new to them. the volume's greatest strength lies in Prager's ability to contextualize the films amid the debates they engender without losing sight of the vital impulse within them toward the elements listed in his subtitle: aesthetic ecstasy and truth.'
– John. E Davidson (Ohio State University), Monatshefte

‘Herzog remains one of the most important and controversial filmmakers of the last thirty years, whose work consistently crosses and confronts film genres, cultures and expectations. This incisive and articulate study provides an exceptionally balanced, thorough and intelligent account of the filmmaker and the films.'
– Timothy Corrigan, University of Pennsylvania 

'A very well-researched, thorough and theoretically well-grounded introduction to Herzog's work, employing a wide range of references from film and art history, critical theory and German Studies ... It accurately observes Herzog's films in their historical background, their production context and their local setting, and brings together the dispersed aspects of his oeuvre and academic scholarship'
– Silke Panse, University of Kent